A country robbed of peace and bereft of aspirations,
Afghanistan seems to be plunging more and more into a pitiful morass of
grievances brought about by the military madness the US troops exhibit
in the beleaguered land with brazen-faced contumely.
One such instance of military insanity is reflected in the
two-year-old photographs recently published by the Los Angeles Times
which show US soldiers posing with the mangled bodies of Afghan
militants.
These repugnant photos dealt a rapid blow to US-Afghan
relations at a time when Washington seeks a strategic deal with Afghan
President Hamed Karzai to maintain a presence in the country after the
2014 pullout of most foreign troops.
Karzai slammed the photographs as “inhuman” on Thursday,
calling for a rapid transition from NATO to Afghan security in order to
stall further similar incidents. A statement issued by Karzai’s office
says, “The Afghan president emphasized that the only way to prevent such
bitter experiences in the future is a quick and complete security
transition from foreign forces.”
The 18 photos were provided by a soldier who served in
Afghanistan with the 82nd Airborne’s 4th Brigade Combat Team from Ft.
Bragg, N.C. who believed that the photos “point to a breakdown in
leadership and discipline.”
Apart from the rage these revolting photos sparked all
across Afghanistan and the aversion they created in international
community, these photos represent the absurdity and the devastating
nature of a war initially waged in the name of de-talibanizing the
country at the hands of those who have lost the very quintessence of
humanity.
In 2010, a group of US soldiers made up a kill team and
decided to go on a shooting spree in their neighborhood. Stationed in
Kandahar, they went for a human hunt all for the sake of gratifying a
mad passion neighing in their breasts. With no fear for any pangs of
conscience that might later prick them to death, two men of Bravo
Company, Cpl. Jeremy Morlock and Pfc. Andrew Holmes embarked on their
devilish journey until they reached La Mohammad Kalay, an isolated
farming village. They caught sight of a young Afghan whose age could not
possibly exceed 15. His name was Gul Mudin. The young boy was killed in
cold blood and his blood-stained body was used by the same soldiers to
pose for photos. In an unnamable act, Pfc. Andrew Holmes then cut off
the Afghan’s pinky for a keepsake. Later, it transpired that the US
soldiers in his Platoon “[threw] candy out of a Stryker vehicle as they
drove through a village [and shot] children who came running to pick up
the sweets.” Later, Spiegel Online published some of these photos.
Desecrating the dead in Afghanistan by US soldiers is
nothing new. In another inhuman act, a 40-second clip shows four men in
combat gear urinating on three dead bodies.
They are also heard to say jokingly, ‘Have a great day, buddy’, ‘Golden like a shower’ and ‘Yeahhhh!’
It is very shocking to note that there is no limit to their
insult. In February, US soldiers at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan
burned some copies of the Holy Quran.
Hatred for the US government is on the rise in Afghanistan. Any iota of optimism that Washington launched an expedition into the country in order to wipe out the Taliban and give the Afghans a breath of freedom is obsolete now. The Afghan people’s cognizance of US agenda in the country may be next to nothing but they now know the sadistic-fetishistic acts the US troops perform on dead bodies in the country are an egregious affront to the Afghans in the first place and a desecration of all qualities revered by every sensible person in the second.
Colonialism has run its course. Yet, the US troops in
Afghanistan have travelled back in time when Americans colonized people
through the malicious practices of serfdom, indentured servitude and
debt bondage and treated them as chattels. Figuratively speaking, they
built their houses on the bones of their slaves.
But Afghanistan is not a US colony!
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